I am a male who started as a programmer in the early 70s. At least a third, maybe as much as a half, of my colleagues at that time were women. I suspect that women were much commoner in the field then than now for two reasons: first, there was such a demand for competent programmers that, as they say, beggars couldn’t be choosers; and second, there weren’t very many occupations that would accept and could make profitable use of bright women: there were very few female doctors and lawyers and traditional engineers. Now, I suspect, a lot of the women who would have gone into programming back then realize that they have better things to do, while most men who go into programming do so for the reason I did: it’s the only thing they can do that will get them a decent income.
I am a male who started as a programmer in the early 70s. At least a third, maybe as much as a half, of my colleagues at that time were women. I suspect that women were much commoner in the field then than now for two reasons: first, there was such a demand for competent programmers that, as they say, beggars couldn’t be choosers; and second, there weren’t very many occupations that would accept and could make profitable use of bright women: there were very few female doctors and lawyers and traditional engineers. Now, I suspect, a lot of the women who would have gone into programming back then realize that they have better things to do, while most men who go into programming do so for the reason I did: it’s the only thing they can do that will get them a decent income.